Famine in Medieval London
How climate change, supply chain issues and inflation helped to create massive food shortages and starvation in medieval London.
Crafting Communities: Masons in Medieval London
A look at how misteries, guilds and fraternities worked to create a sense of community for the masons of medieval London.
Gilds and Things: Keeping the Peace in 10th Century London
In the early 10th century, the inhabitants of London and the surrounding region formed one of the first recorded guilds in England – the so-called ‘peace gild’.
Inner Circles: Reading and Writing in Late Medieval London
New findings reveal that London’s clerks and scriveners, who moved between English, French, and Latin, formed professional ‘communities of practice’, which played a significant part in the dissemination of literary manuscripts.
King Henry III of England: an interview with David Carpenter
Ian Stone talks with David Carpenter about his book Henry III: The Rise to Power and Personal Rule, 1207-1258
‘We are the Commune of the City’. Elections, Exemptions and Exclusions in Thirteenth-Century London
In 1272 the election of London’s mayor descended into chaos
Plagues were spreading faster in centuries after Black Death, researchers find
Researchers who analyzed thousands of documents covering a 300-year span of plague outbreaks in London, England, have estimated that the disease spread four…
Murders in Medieval London
What happens when someone was murdered in the Middle Ages? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle is joined by Peter Konieczny to take a look at the Coroner’s Rolls from 14th century London. These records offer many insights into violent deaths, detailing the who, what, where, when and sometimes why of murders that took place within the city.
London in the Age of Becket: The 12th century Thames
Becket was born in Cheapside and raised in London, and this short talk will look at the city that Becket would have known during his lifetime, and it’s development into the 13th century, in the years after his martyrdom.
A Marriage in Medieval London: The Brother’s Tale
On January 15, 1472, in the case of Elizabeth Isaak versus John Bolde, the deposed witness was Elizabeth’s brother, Walter Isaak.
Vi et Armis: Londoners and Violent Trespass Before the Common Pleas in the Fifteenth Century
The Londoners who entered pleadings in this court between 1405 and 1415 have left a fascinating glimpse into both interpersonal violence and the world of savvy litigators.
London Under Danish Rule: Cnut’s Politics and Policies as a Demonstration of Power
In 1016, London was one of very few English cities of European significance. This reflected London’s prominence as a trading port, an economic and administrative hub, and population centre, rather than any status as a nascent capital city.
Archaeologists discover 500 year-old burials at the Tower of London
An archaeological excavation undertaken within the walls of the Tower of London, just outside the main entrance of the Tower’s historic Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, has uncovered the remains of two people an adult female and a young child, who were buried about 500 years ago.
Sports in Medieval London
Fitzstephen takes the time to show us medieval Londoners in all their human glory, enjoying themselves in the time they have off.
Black Death burials reveal the diversity of London’s medieval population
New research on people buried in London during the Black Death suggests that the city’s population was more diverse than currently believed, including the presence of people with African heritage.
Prisons and Punishments in Late Medieval London
In the history of crime and punishment the prisons of medieval London have generally been overlooked.
The Mayor of the Mob: The Life Records of John Northampton
This study provides context for the political conflicts of the last quarter of the fourteenth century in London through the life of its most controversial mayor, John Northampton.
“My Written Books of Surgery in the Englishe Tonge”: The London Company of Barber-Surgeons and the Lylye of Medicynes
This article explores the later provenance of the Lylye amongst the Gale family of barber-surgeons in sixteenth-century London.
King Alfred, Mercia and London, 874-86: A reassessment
The status of London in the later ninth century has for some time been the subject of enquiry by historians, numismatists and archaeologists
“Now thrive the Armourers”: The Development of the Armourers’ Crafts and the Forging of Fourteenth-century London
This thesis ultimately seeks to understand how and why the London armourers came to be so closely associated with the politics and uprisings of London’s controversial mayor, John Northampton (1381-1383).
London archaeologists discover medieval skeleton with his boots still on
Archaeologists working along the River Thames in London have discovered the remains of a late-medieval man, still wearing thigh-high leather boots.
Digital map reveals medieval London’s homicide ‘hot spots’
First digital map of the murders recorded by the city’s Coroner in early 1300s shows Cheapside and Cornhill were homicide ‘hot spots’, and Sundays held the highest risk of violent death for medieval Londoners.
Medieval St Paul’s Cathedral of London to be rebuilt virtually
When the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the city in 1666, one of the greatest losses was St. Paul’s Cathedral. A new project is now set to launch that will allow visitors to once again explore this medieval landmark in virtual form.